Extruding device



March 11, 1941.

0. GANO EXTRUDING DEVICE Filed April 11, 1938 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR.

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O.GANO

EXTRUDING DEVICE Filed April 11, less 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTORhnflk'dhwm, BY yew m W 1 An"mwws Patented Mar. 11, 1941 EXTRUDIN GDEVICE Orville Gano, Burley, Corporation of Idah ration of IdahoApplication April 11, 1938, Serial No. 201,266

2 Claims.

This invention relates to an extruding device for forming thin strips orstrings from plastic materials. More particularly,

it relates to a device-by means of which potatoes or other starchymaterials may be extruded wi thout damaging or disrupting the starchcells therein to any appreciable extent.

pressive and shearing action of the extruding devices may be highlyundesirable.

of potatoes in air.

This undesirable result is result of a chemical reaction For example, toproduce a defrom which mashed potatoes believed to be the between theconstituents of the starch particles. The starch ules.

the potato cells consist of an An object of this invention, accordingly,is to potatoes or other ply and effectively damage to their Idaho,assignor to Potato 0, Garwood, N. J., a corpo- A further object ofthe'invention is to provide a device of the above character in which thematerial is firmly and gently pressed throughthe extruding apertureswithout substantial rubbing action. 5

Another object of the invention is to provide an extruding device of'theabove character in which no sharp edges are presented to the material asit is pressed through the extruding apertures so that its cell structureremains substantially unchanged during the extruding process.

sure roller and the innerperiphery of the cylin- 20 drical drum. Thedrum may be. directly "gear driven from the pressure roller so that atthe line of contact the speed of the pressure is the same as the speedof the drum and damage to the starch granules in theextruded 30material. The process is further aided by providing longitudinal roundedribs between the view in vertical section taken through the axis of thecylindrical drum and 40 illustrating an extruding device constructed inaccordance with this invention;

Figure 2 is a View in section taken along line 2.2 of Figure 1, showingthe shape of a tapered slot through which material is fed. to theextrud- 45 ing device;

Figure 3 is a view partly in section, taken along the line 33 of Figure1 and illustrating the operation of the pressure roller within thecylindrical drum; and

Figure 4 is a ing the manner in which the cylindrical drum is shown atIII, at each extremity of which the end supporting rings II and I2 areformed. These end supporting rings are provided with shoulders I3 whichare adapted to rest on the rollers I4 in such fashion that the drum Imay be rotated about its axis.

Within the lower half of the cylinder I0 is a smooth-surfaced pressureroller I5 at each end of which are secured the shafts I6 and H which arejournaled in the bearings I8. The drum I0 is adapted to be driven by aspur is keyed or otherwise secured on the shaft I1 and which is adaptedto engage the internal gear 20 forming the inner periphery of theendring It will be noted that and the cylinder ID are so to one anotherthat the pressure roller I5 engages cylinder I0 along a lineextendinglongitudinally of the cylinder I0. Furthermore, since the drumI0 is directly driven from the pressure roller [5, the outer peripheryof the roller I5 and the inner periphery of the cylinder II] have thesamelinear velocity at the line of contact so that materials fed betweenthe two moving surfaces .are not subjected to any substantial rubbingaction.

Above the pressure roller I5, a plate 2I 'is located which forms thebottom of a hopper 22 from which the potatoes or other material may befed to the extruding device. A tapered slot 23 is formed in theplate 2Iand acts to distribute the material uniformly throughout the entirelength of the cylinder ID. The slot 23 has one edge 24'parallel to theaxis'of the cylinder III and another longitudinal edge 25 inclined withrespect to the axis of the cylinder, thereby forming atriangular-openinghaving a base substantially as wide as the conveyor 26which feeds the material from the hopper 22' into the cylinder. Thematerial is continually moved by means of the vanes 21 on the endlessconveyor belt 26 which is supthe pressure roller I5 dispo ed withrespect outer surface of the ported on the pulleys 28'. Because of theinclination of edge 25 of the slot '23, the incoming material begins todrop through the apex of the slot. The material which is supported byportions of the plate 2I-spaced laterally from the slot is dropped intothe drum only when it has progressed to a wider portion of the slot.Thus the material supported on the upper portion of plate 2I as viewedin Fig. 2 will fall through the slot 23 at the left hand end of the slotand the material at the lower portion of plate 2I'will fall through theslot only at'its right hand end. The inclination of the edge 25 beinguniform, the distribution of the material likewise will be uniform.

Formed in the wall of the cylindrical drum III are a'plurality ofapertures 29 each of which has a converging mouth portion 3ll by meansof which the diameter of the extruded string of material may begradually reduced. The apertures 29 are arranged in rows and are spacedby the longitudinally extending ribs 3| which are preferablysemicircular in cross section, although other curved shapes may be usedif desired. These ribs 3| serve to bring the material under the smoothsurface of the pressure roller I0, and further present gear I9 which 7 wThe material falls into cylindrical drum I0 and the smooth pressureroller I5, and is gently and firmly pressed through "the-apertures 29and extruded in the form of the inner wall of the j only curved surfacesto the material, so that little, if any, shearing action takes place.The material is pressed into the apertures 29 and the material issubjected to slight lateral and axial compression to mold and extrudeinto strings or strips.

In operation, the material to be. extruded is dumped into the hopper 22whence it is carried by the vanes 21 on the conveyor belt 26 to the slot23. The slot 23 serves to feed the material at a uniform rate anddeliver it equally throughout the entire length of the cylindrical drumIii. the space between the strings or rods. The longitudinal ribs 3Iserve to bring the material under the pressure roller I5 and since theseribs have no sharp edges the material is extruded without internalshear.

This invention, therefore, provides an improved extruding device inwhich materials may be uniformly extruded in portions of substantiallyuniform density throughout and without material alteration of theirphysical structure. As has been pointed out, this is especiallyimportant where the extruded material is the potato, since if a usableproduct is to be obtained, the'potato must be extruded without damagingthe granules of starch. The present construction is especially adaptedfor extruding such materials since the extrusion process may beaccomplished without anyrubbing action and the material is at no timepresentedto sharp surfaces which'maydamage the cell structure or rupturethe starch granules.

The-above description is illustrative only of a specific embodiment ofthe invention, which is not intended to be limited in any way therebyexcept as'defined in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. .An extruding device comprising a'cylindrical drum rotatable aboutits axis, a plurality of longitudinallyuextending, spaced, ribs havingcurved inwardly directed surfaces on the inner surface of the drum,means forming a plurality of apertures in the spaces between the ribs,each of the said apertures having a wide mouth portion converging to anarrow throat portion, and a pressure roller for pressing materialthrough the said apertures. V g p 2. An extruding device comprising acylindrical drum rotatable about its axis, a supporting ring at one endof the said drum having internal gear teeth formed thereon a pluralityof longitudinally extending, spaced, ribs having curved inwardlydirected surfaces on the inner surface of the drum, means forming aplurality of apertures in the spaces between the ribs,'each aperturehaving a wide mouth portion converging to a narrow throat portion, asmooth-surfaced pressure roller for pressing material through the saidapertures, a shaft on the roller, and a spur gear on theshaft adapted toengage the internal gear teethon the said supporting ring for drivingthe drum from the pressure roller, whereby material may be extrudedthrough the apertures without substantial damage to its cell structure.

' ORVILLE GANO.

